Meeting of the awardees of St. Martin Diocesan Caritas Scholarship
The scholarship program of St. Martin Diocesan Caritas was launched in 2007 in Transcarpathia. It aims to support Catholic young people who graduate from a Hungarian high school in Ukraine, and enroll in higher education also in Ukraine but do not have the financial means to complete the university or college program without external support.
The scholarship's goal is to promote the training of the future generation of young Hungarian Catholic intellectuals in Transcarpathia. The scholarship is announced every semester and is funded by several Foundations as well as private donors: the Szolgálat Kész (Ready to Serve) Foundation ( Hungary); The Transcarpathian Franciscan Mission Foundation (Hungary), Christina Funnell (Great Britain).
The five-member scholarship committee organized the second meeting for all the awardees this year on March 20th. The meeting started with a mass was celebrated by Rev. Antal Michels, parish priest of Mukachevo-Palanok, in the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Mukachevo. Following the mass, the program continued next to the cathedral at St. Michael Chapel. After the introduction, Mr. Andras Kacsó, chairman of board of the Transcarpathian Franciscan Mission Foundation, took the floor to address the young attendees. Mr. Kacsó was invited to attend the meeting by the scholarship committee. In his speech, he pointed out the importance of searching God's will regarding our vocation. Everybody has the opportunity to find the right place and duty for themselves in the world, what they like to do, and what fulfills their lives.
Two university students - Tünde Tamáskó and Oksana Vasiljeva - told about their volunteer activity at the Pediatric Department of the Regional Hospital in Uzhgorod, where they go to visit orphans. Then Zsuzsanna Pápai, editor of the Roman Catholic periodical, Új Hajtás (New Offset), shared with the audience her volunteer experience in the Faith and Light community in Mukachevo. In the short break, the young participants had the opportunity to network with the invited speakers, the members of the committee as well as each other. During the small group discussions, they exchanged thoughts about talent, skill, and charisma and also about the ways of how to recognize those in ourselves.
Following the small group discussions, the attendees commemorated the 1848-49 Hungarian Revolution and war of Liberation. In the closing ceremony of the event, the new awardees were presented the scholarship award.
Szabolcs Bunda